Cirrus@Austlit

'The Butterfly Garden is an entertaining introduction to the life cycle of a butterfly – played out by a fat caterpillar, a hungry kookaburra and a supporting cast of beautiful butterflies. Spare and simple, The Butterfly Garden also weaves in the idea of how the kookaburra may have got his laugh. Fern Martins illustrations are a mix of strong colour and transluscent beauty. Her stained-glass interpretations of the cocoon at its various stages show its ephemeral quality in a joyful and fluid way. This feel-good board book for Early Childhood will bring a smile to all readers.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Big Fella Rain is a celebration of northern Australia as animals, birds, trees and a parched earth await the first rain. It is almost as if country stands still as the sparse yet evocative text pays homage to the transition from dry season to wet season in a country that is like no other place in the world.

'Fern Martins illustrations seamlessly portray the dramatic skies, the thirsty animals and tiny creatures whose very existence rely on the monsoonal changes. Her exquisite rendering of the big landscape against the subtle shifts in the environment have a timeless quality that will capture the hearts of all readers.' (Publication summary)

'Every day, Ella and Mia’s grandpa comes home from work with a treat from the toast tree - a tree that grows the best tasting toast in the world! Ella and Mia start searching high and low for the magical tree in the sand hills surrounding their beach-side town. Written by Corina Martin and beautifully illustrated by Fern Martins, The Toast Tree is about family, and the search for magic through the power of a child’s imagination.' (Source: Publisher's website)

'The second book in the creative collaboration of storyteller Josie Boyle and illustrator, Fern Martins. There once lived a sad lady whose only friends were the flowers in her garden. This is the story of a sad lady who is inspired by an unusual flower in her garden to paint spots on her cups and saucers. This then extends to her kitchen, to all over her house! She is no longer sad and she paints her way into the hearts of her neighbours and her street becomes the happiest in the neighbourhood, A delightful tale of the transformative power of nature – offering a glimpse of how the natural and emotional worlds can connect in making the ordinary extraordinary.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Bubbay lives in the outback spending his days protecting a herd of goats from dingoes. He sleeps in his swag under the stars and the only person he visits is Mrs Timms for chicken's eggs. One night, just before Christmas, Bubbay wishes for something he has never had. His friends, the stars hear him and, with the help of a talking Christmas tree, the magical Gubarlee and five desert animals, Bubbay begins a quest to make his dearest wish come true. A hopeful story full of magic, combined with richly textured illustrations of Australian plants and animals, Bubbay offers a glimpse of how the natural and spiritual worlds can intervene by making ordinary lives better.' (Source: Magabala Books website, www.magabala.com)